AI skills now boost pay across most sectors of the economy
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AI skills provide a boost in wages, at least for the current time, according to a new survey. This could alter as the technology becomes commonplace and easier to use, but currently there is, for most sectors of the economy, a premium for those most familiar with manipulating artificial intelligence.
With an estimate 5% of workers currently AI fluent, those who possess such skills may be gaining a salary advantage as businesses rush to adopt AI.
In an analysis of more than one million UK job listings for their AI statistics report, GEO agency Reboot Online identified a surge in AI roles, alongside a higher average salary in almost every industry. The results have been shared with Digital Journal.
In particular, AI skills command a salary premium in 79% of UK industries. This is a skill in demand: Almost 1 in 3 job listings (31.8%) now mention AI skills.
In terms of the size of the premium, across sectors where AI skills are rewarded, workers earn an average of £4,827 more, and in some sectors, the premium reaches £20,000. Here, a technical AI understanding is not necessary to reach the premiums, as the most common terms are around AI assistants, rather than machine learning or LLMs. This is also the key reason why this premium may not last too long, since the level of skill required is undoubtedly overblown.
Low tech understanding required
Among the most frequently used AI terms are AI assistants and tools, straying away from technical AI expertise. AI familiarity and general experience are enough to access the salary premium in most job descriptions. The five most mentioned AI skills are ‘AI assistant’, ‘AI automation’, ‘deep learning’, ‘ML’ and ‘decision automation’.
The research revealed that on average, AI-skilled roles across the UK pay £2,930 more (+5.8%). While 79% of UK industries pay more for AI skills (30 out of 38), including non-profits, fitness and manufacturing. Among the industries where AI commands a premium, the average uplift is £4,827 (10.54%), almost double the overall figure.
Which sectors value AI skills most?
| Industry | AI jobs average salary | Non AI jobs average salary | Salary difference | Percentage difference | |
| 1 | Non-Profit & NGO | £76,864.17 | £55,934.00 | £20,930.17 | 37.42% |
| 2 | Quality Assurance | £57,302.54 | £44,583.43 | £12,719.11 | 28.53% |
| 3 | IT & Networking | £54,597.05 | £45,158.68 | £9,438.37 | 20.90% |
| 4 | Manufacturing | £42,223.94 | £36,709.12 | £5,514.83 | 15.02% |
| 5 | Logistics & Supply Chain | £49,393.12 | £42,969.38 | £6,423.74 | 14.95% |
| 6 | Data Science | £55,840.45 | £48,779.30 | £7,061.16 | 14.48% |
| 7 | Fitness & Wellness | £43,688.93 | £38,205.81 | £5,483.12 | 14.35% |
| 8 | Product Management | £71,642.54 | £63,196.88 | £8,445.66 | 13.36% |
| 9 | Software Engineering | £64,949.31 | £57,756.30 | £7,193.02 | 12.45% |
| 10 | Cybersecurity | £64,277.53 | £57,569.81 | £6,707.72 | 11.65% |
Shai Aharony, CEO of Reboot Online, tells Digital Journal: “We’re seeing salary premiums as a result of AI in industries you wouldn’t necessarily expect. It’s universal across almost every sector and job role in 2026 and our reliance is only expected to grow.”
In contrast, some sectors appear slow to take up AI – or at least recruiting externally for this skill set.
Which sectors value AI skills least?
| Industry | AI jobs average salary | Non AI jobs average salary | Salary difference | Percentage difference | |
| 1 | Healthcare | £30,623.61 | £39,744.05 | -£9,120.43 | -22.95% |
| 2 | Education & Teaching | £34,156.22 | £42,043.69 | -£7,887.46 | -18.76% |
| 3 | Legal | £46,950.36 | £50,952.93 | -£4,002.57 | -7.86% |
| 4 | Retail | £27,942.85 | £31,635.01 | -£3,692.16 | -11.67% |
| 5 | Sales | £34,083.95 | £37,069.65 | -£2,985.71 | -8.05% |
| 6 | Translation & Localisation | £54,200.22 | £57,136.95 | -£2,936.73 | -5.14% |
| 7 | Food & Hospitality | £28,774.54 | £30,400.20 | -£1,625.66 | -5.35% |
| 8 | Construction | £44,563.20 | £45,809.09 | -£1,245.88 | -2.72% |
| 9 | Arts & Entertainment | £39,741.02 | £40,257.91 | -£516.89 | -1.28% |
| 10 | Customer Service | £31,879.13 | £31,519.52 | £359.61 | 1.14% |
The data was gathered by scraping various UK job listing websites. This resulted in more than a million job advertisements whose posting dates range from January 2021 to January 2026.